h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Source: http://members.xoom.com/conspiracy_x/govern.htm
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FEMA( the secret government):
Some people have referred to it as the "secret government" of the United States. It is not
an elected body, it does not involve itself in public disclosures, and it even has a
quasi-secret budget in the billions of dollars. This government organization has more power
than the President of the United States or the Congress, it has the power to suspend laws,
move entire populations, arrest and detain citizens without a warrant and hold them without
trial, it can seize property, food supplies, transportation systems, and can suspend the
Constitution. Not only is it the most powerful entity in the United States, but it was not even created
under Constitutional law by the Congress. It was a product of a Presidential Executive
Order. No, it is not the U.S. military nor the Central Intelligence Agency, they are subject
to Congress. The organization is called FEMA, which stands for the Federal Emergency
Management Agency. Originally conceived in the Richard Nixon Administration, it was
refined by President Jimmy Carter and given teeth in the Ronald Reagan and George
Bush Administrations. FEMA had one original concept when it was created, to assure the survivability of the United States government in the event of a nuclear attack on this nation. It was also
provided with the task of being a federal coordinating body during times of domestic
disasters, such as earthquakes, floods and hurricanes. Its awesome powers grow under the
tutelage of people like Lt. Col. Oliver North and General Richard Secord, the architects on
the Iran-Contra scandal and the looting of America's savings and loan institutions. FEMA
has even been given control of the State Defense Forces, a rag-tag, often considered
neo-Nazi, civilian army that will substitute for the National Guard, if the Guard is called to
duty overseas.
THE MOST POWERFUL ORGANIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Though it may be the most powerful organization in the United States, few people know it
even exists. But it has crept into our private lives. Even mortgage papers contain FEMA's
name in small print if the property in question is near a flood plain. FEMA was deeply
involved in the Los Angeles riots and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake in the San
Francisco Bay Area. Some of the black helicopter traffic reported throughout the United
States, but mainly in the West, California, Washington, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas and
Colorado, are flown by FEMA personnel. FEMA has been given responsibility for many
new disasters including urban forest fires, home heating emergencies, refugee situations,
urban riots, and emergency planning for nuclear and toxic incidents. In the West, it works
in conjunction with the Sixth Army.FEMA was created in a series of Executive Orders. A Presidential Executive Order, whether Constitutional or not, becomes law simply by its publication in the Federal
Registry. Congress is by-passed. Executive Order Number 12148 created the Federal
Emergency Management Agency that is to interface with the Department of Defense for
civil defense planning and funding. An "emergency czar" was appointed. FEMA has only
spent about 6 percent of its budget on national emergencies, the bulk of their funding has
been used for the construction of secret underground facilities to assure continuity of
government in case of a major emergency, foreign or domestic. Executive Order Number
12656 appointed the National Security Council as the principal body that should consider
emergency powers. This allows the government to increase domestic intelligence and
surveillance of U.S. citizens and would restrict the freedom of movement within the United
States and grant the government the right to isolate large groups of civilians. The National
Guard could be federalized to seal all borders and take control of U.S. air space and all
ports of entry.
Here are just a few Executive Orders associated with FEMA that would suspend the
Constitution and the Bill of Rights. These Executive Orders have been on record for nearly
30 years and could be enacted by the stroke of a Presidential pen:

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10990 allows the government to take over all modes of
transportation and control of highways and seaports.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10995 allows the government to seize and control the
communication media.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10997 allows the government to take over all electrical
power, gas, petroleum, fuels and minerals.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 10998 allows the government to take over all food resources
and farms.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11000 allows the government to mobilize civilians into work
brigades under government supervision.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11001 allows the government to take over all health,
education and welfare functions.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11002 designates the Postmaster General to operate a
national registration of all persons.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11003 allows the government to take over all airports and
aircraft, including commercial aircraft.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11004 allows the Housing and Finance Authority to relocate
communities, build new housing with public funds, designate areas to be abandoned,
and establish new locations for populations.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11005 allows the government to take over railroads, inland
waterways and public storage facilities.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11051 specifies the responsibility of the Office of Emergency
Planning and gives authorization to put all Executive Orders into effect in times of
increased international tensions and economic or financial crisis.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11310 grants authority to the Department of Justice to
enforce the plans set out in Executive Orders, to institute industrial support, to
establish judicial and legislative liaison, to control all aliens, to operate penal and
correctional institutions, and to advise and assist the President.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11049 assigns emergency preparedness function to federal
departments and agencies, consolidating 21 operative Executive Orders issued over
a fifteen year period.

EXECUTIVE ORDER 11921 allows the Federal Emergency Preparedness Agency
to develop plans to establish control over the mechanisms of production and
distribution, of energy sources, wages, salaries, credit and the flow of money in U.S.
financial institution in any undefined national emergency. It also provides that when a
state of emergency is declared by the President, Congress cannot review the action
for six months.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has broad powers in every aspect of the
nation. General Frank Salzedo, chief of FEMA's Civil Security Division stated in a 1983
conference that he saw FEMA's role as a "new frontier in the protection of individual and
governmental leaders from assassination, and of civil and military installations from
sabotage and/or attack, as well as prevention of dissident groups from gaining access to
U.S. opinion, or a global audience in times of crisis."

FEMA's powers were consolidated by President Carter to incorporate:
the National Security Act of 1947, which allows for the strategic relocation of
industries, services, government and other essential economic activities, and to rationalize the requirements for manpower, resources and production facilities;
the 1950 Defense Production Act, which gives the President sweeping powers over
all aspects of the economy;
the Act of August 29, 1916, which authorizes the Secretary of the Army, in time of
war, to take possession of any transportation system for transporting troops,
material, or any other purpose related to the emergency; and
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which enables the President to
seize the property of a foreign country or national.
These powers were transferred to FEMA in a sweeping consolidation in 1979.